COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Republicans seeking to oust Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens after a bitter, two-year-long rivalry have failed, according to the initial results from the Secretary of State's website.
Votes are still being counted, but so far, Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) seems to have been victorious, likely holding onto the gavel for the next two years if his supporters remain loyal.
"The shadowy out-of-state dark money groups who outspent us 2 to 1 learned a valuable lesson last night: the Ohio Statehouse is not for sale," Stephens said. "We look forward to getting back to doing the work for the people of Ohio and continuing to pass good conservative legislation that benefits all Ohioans."
Prior to the election, Stephens could afford to lose four seats in March and remain speaker.
He needs just 50 votes to keep leadership.
Of the people who are likely to support Stephens, 15 faced challengers.
He only lost four:
- State Rep. Sara Carruthers (R-Hamilton) lost to challenger Diane Mullins 53-47%
- State Rep. Brett Hillyer (R-Uhrichsville) lost to Jodi Salvo 58-41%.
- State Rep. Gail Pavliga (R-Portage County) lost to Heidi Workman 61-38%.
- State Rep. Jon Cross (R-Findlay) lost to Ty Mathews 65-34%. Cross was the Assistant Majority Floor Leader, meaning Stephens will need to find a new member to join leadership next term.
This all stems from political drama from January 2023 and how Stephens came to power. The Republican caucus had previously chosen state Rep. Derek Merrin (R-Monclova) as speaker months before the full House floor vote.
Twenty-two Republicans (known "affectionately" by the other faction as the "Blue 22") and 32 Democrats voted for Stephens for speaker during the actual vote, while the majority of Republicans voted for Merrin. Stephens, still a conservative, is significantly more moderate than Merrin.
Five of Stephens' original supporters were not running for reelection, either due to term limits or, in the case of former Rep. Bob Young, needing to resign due to multiple arrests and subsequently being found guilty of domestic violence. However, Stephens seemed to pick up five additional members during the year.
To break it down further, Stephens is looking at 22 Republican votes and 32 Democratic votes once again. That equals 54 members. Thus, the speaker can afford to lose four and still hit 50.
These 22 are the likely supporters.
UPDATE: Following this story being published, anti-Stephens individuals claimed that it wasn't fair to say all of the people who previously voted for Stephens would vote for him again. From WCPO's partners at WEWS's conversations with the incumbents and with talking to both the new allies and/or following their rise in leadership or gains in fundraising, it is evident that they still support the speaker.
If the allies of the speaker had lost their jobs, that could make the statehouse significantly more conservative. Click or tap here to find out why.
Senate President Matt Huffman is expected to challenge Stephens for House speakership next January. He has a faction of supporters within the House currently. Candidates, some of whom have now won, have said that Huffman has helped support their bid to knock out the Stephens' team incumbents.
Related: Analysis: How GOP infighting is causing messy primaries, but the speaker could keep the gavel
Click here for an in-depth play-by-play and a history of why the Republicans refuse to get along on everything.
Claims of possible flip-floppery checked
Now comes the back-and-forth between supporters of Stephens and Huffman — where people on each side claim they have more allies than they do.
Lobbyist Bobby Ina, who is supporting Huffman, claims that at least one member of the Stephens team has said she will flip to the senator's team.
"She said she's not going through that [expletive] again," Ina said, saying the lawmaker made a deal Wednesday morning.
He is referring to state Rep. Tracy Richardson (R-Marysville), who emphatically denies this allegation.
“I have been attacked unfairly for eight weeks during the most negative campaign ever experienced in my lifetime in Ohio. Sadly, Republicans fought Republicans in an unprecedented way with outside groups interfering to control the power in the Ohio Statehouse. Given this difficult campaign and the work I did until close of the polls last night, it is outrageous to think or to gossip that I 'made a deal' over the speaker race today or any time in the recent past. I resent the gossip,” Richardson told WEWS exclusively.
When asked for documentation or evidence of Richardson flipping sides, Ina said he didn't have anything to provide and hadn't been a part of her conversation with the senator's team. He said that people will never admit to journalists how they are actually going to vote.
The Ohio Republican Party is going to pass another resolution that says it will "kick" voters for Stephens out of the party "if they do it again," Ina claimed.
"False," ORP Chairman Alex Triantafilou said.
He did note that the party's State Central Committee passed a resolution in December that urges members of the General Assembly to support the candidate who wins the caucus vote.
"Any person not honoring the respective vote of the caucus process and who aligns with Democrats to select presiding officers shall be subject to censure and a consideration for no future endorsement by this committee," the resolution states.
These are "possible repercussions," Triantafilou added, saying no one is getting kicked out of the party for voting for Stephens.
What's next?
This isn't the end. Numerous seats are newly competitive, and Democrats could realistically gain between one and four seats. Every new Democrat is likely to be a vote for Stephens.
While the primary election infighting is now over, the Ohio GOP infighting only seems to be heating up — even after it was already scorching.
Expect more whispers and accusations to come. The final vote isn't until January.
